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The Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island recently received a grant from the Merle J. Graham Charitable Trust for $250,000 to build a dedicated Reading Center on the grounds of the Gumtree Road Campus.
Merle and Marian Graham were longtime Hilton Head Island residents who wanted to benefit the community which had been so good to them for over 30 years.
“This is a terrific way for the Boys & Girls Club to help address some of the literacy issues facing our youth,” said Jim Hooper, chairman of the board. “We are extremely grateful to the Grahams for their generous and thoughtful gift.”
Currently the Club does not have any space for quiet study, which according to the Department of Education is an indicator of a quality after-school program. The Reading Center will be created by reallocating current Boys & Girls Club office space including the board room, Development and Marketing, unit director and administrative assistant offices (approximately 1250 square feet).
One area of the center will be fitted with study carrels for individual tutoring, a second space will be structured as a small group area for read-out-loud activities, a computer area will be offered with literacy based software and a comfortable, leisurely reading area with bean bags, books in English and Spanish and other reading materials of interest will be created. In the “Reading Center” approach, literacy is a tool in the process of learning rather than a task to be completed.
A multitude of literacy services such as dedicated reading staff and volunteer reading sessions, ESL/translation services, one-on-one reading assistance, puppet shows, poetry reading, writing activities like a kids' “pen pal” program, individual leisure reading time and a kids' book club would be offered. Architectural drawings for the center have been approved and construction is planned to begin early this summer.
In addition to the reading center grant, funding was also provided by the Grahams for a Nature Walk to be developed on the club grounds, partial lighting for the club’s soccer field, security cameras and a variety of new technology for use in the club’s Technology Center and future Reading Center.
Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island serves some 400 young people, ages 6 to 18, annually through educational, recreational, health and fitness programs. Known as The Positive Place for Kids, Boys & Girls Clubs of Hilton Head Island provides a safe place to learn and grow and offer ongoing relationships with caring adult professionals, life enhancing programs, character development experiences and hope and opportunity to the youth we serve. For more information visit www.bgchhi.org.
